ProFractional™Therapy is a quick and effective ablative fractional laser procedure with little downtime, used for improving the overall appearance of your skin. The procedure is performed in our office and can be custom tailored to address a wide range of skin conditions and desired outcomes.

 

Conditions treated:

 

Profractional laser treatments can be used to treat:

• acne scars

• sun spots

• loose skin

• wrinkles

• changes in pigmentation

• enlarged pores.

 

What is Profractional™ Laser Therapy?

 

ProFractional™ is a laser made by Sciton® that uses a tiny beam to treat thousands of pinpoint areas of your skin. The laser used in this system has a very high attraction to the water in your skin, and is known as an Erbium: YAG laser system. When the laser energy is applied, it ablates (vaporizes) a layer of skin to a precisely-controlled depth. Because only a fraction of your skin is directly treated with the laser, the surrounding untreated tissue promotes rapid healing. This body’s wound healing response creates new collagen, which adds firmness and resilience to the skin. Erbium lasers have been very popular over the years and offer an alternative to conventional CO2 lasers, also used for ablative fractional therapy. The true benefits for Erbium systems is that the downtime associated with these lasers appears to be somewhat less than the CO2 systems, and this appears to be true in the ablative fractional world as well.

 

How Does Profractional™ Laser Therapy Work?

 

ProFractional™ has the unique ability to penetrate very deep into the skin, but with very little heat damage to surrounding tissue. This combination allows for efficacious collagen remodeling (due to the deep treatments) and a high safety margin (due to low thermal damage) on all skin types. This combination makes ProFractional™ one of the safest, yet most effective resurfacing lasers available today. The true advantage of the ProFractional™ XC is that we can control not only the amount of energy that we are delivering into the skin but we can also control the coagulation of the heated tissue, thereby influencing the thermal damage around the laser beam itself, allowing us to adjust the exact amount of total damage we want to create. This helps us to customize a treatment to the individual and to the entity being treated, whether it be scars or photo damage or wrinkles.

 

Who is a Good Candidate for Profractional™ Laser Therapy?

 

Individuals who have discolored spots, wrinkles, acne scars or other skin conditions may be good candidates for this procedure. The treatment works well for all skin types, regardless of age or fairness of skin. Good candidates for Profrational™ treatment should have realistic expectations about the results of the procedure. After just one treatment, most patients will see noticeable results. However, after multiple sessions, you can see amazing results for deep scars, and other severe skin conditions. Individuals who suffer from cold sores or have other open sores or who have used Accutane at some time in the past year may not be eligible for treatment at the present time.

 

Does Profractional Therapy Hurt?

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ProFractional™ therapy is widely regarded as a comfortable procedure, usually tolerated with the use of a topical numbing cream or a local anesthetic, depending on the depth of treatment to ease any discomfort. Many patients report feeling a prickly tingling sensation that subsides once the treatment is completed. There may also be a sensation of heat to the area and a feeling similar to a sunburn.

Most skin areas can be treated. Popular treatment areas are the face and neck, although many people also treat the chest and hands. Dr. Mary Pritikin can adjust the laser settings appropriately for the specific area being treated.

 

What is Recovery Like?

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Immediately following the procedure you may experience mild redness and a sensation resembling sunburn.  Most patients can expect about two days of mild swelling and redness. For about a week, there may be mild peeling of the skin much like a sunburn. Recovery time depends on the extent of the condition treated and will be different for each patient. Combination treatments, such as those in conjunction with Sciton BBL or Micro Laser Peel will likely require a slightly longer recovery time.

Upon completion of the procedure, Dr. Mary  and the PritiSkin™ staff will advise you on specific after-treatment care recommendations, which will help minimize the associated downtime with the procedure. We will provide you with an ointment that will help soothe any discomfort you experience. We also recommend cold compresses to help reduce swelling and redness. Avoid using makeup or sunblock for three days or until it no longer causes discomfort when applying. After this phase of healing, we recommend you apply sunscreen often to the treated area for a few months in order to ensure the best results and to protect your skin.

 

Learn how to repair sun damage without downtime

 

 

To learn more about ProFractional Laser Therapy, please make an appointment at  PritiSkin™ Advanced Cosmetic Rejuvenation – Chicago’s leading provider of aesthetic and esthetician services – at 312-332-4475.